How Jesus Built His Church

by By Joshua Schwisow, Kevin Swanson, Daniel Noor

Church history is the study of the greatest undertaking the world has ever Jesus Christ building His kingdom. Even though the church faces persecution, suffering, and a decline in numbers at times, the kingdom of Christ marches on. The gates of hell will not prevail against the onslaught of Jesus and His disciples. Christ will triumph against the forces of spiritual darkness. This is the story of the church. As century follows century, much of the work accomplished by the followers of the Carpenter from Galilee may not appear on the front page of newspapers. But when the dust settles and the history books are written, we find a church growing and expanding across the globe. We find Christian hospitals and orphanages everywhere. We find Christian culture impacting every aspect of human life on planet Earth! This is how the mustard seed and the leaven works. It is slow. It is subtle. But it does really grow. The tale of Christ’s kingdom is both fascinating and full of surprises. It includes pastors and teachers as well as people from every background and all walks of life. From kings and royal courtiers to tradesmen and peasants, Christ builds His church through living stones. Through their stories, we can observe how God’s faithfulness has beautifully and masterfully preserved His people through more than twenty centuries. Then and now, Christ’s kingdom is growing, and His building work continues to this day. Textbook Table of Unit 1: The Early Church - AD 30-500 Chapter 1: In the Fullness of Time Chapter 2: The Church Faces Opposition Chapter 3: Writings from the Early Church Chapter 4: Christian Worship and Doctrinal Development Chapter 5: Leaders of the Early Church Chapter 6: More Leaders of the Early Church Unit 2: The Early Middle Ages - AD 500-1000 Chapter 7: Missionary Expansion Chapter 8: Christian Monasticism Chapter 9: The Rise of Islam Chapter 10: The Development of the Papacy Chapter 11: Schism in the Church Unit 3: The Late Middle A

372 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Kristi Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative and well written text that gives a general overview of church history beginning with the book of Acts through the early 21st century. Certainly, it does not cover every aspect of history, but it’s a good survey of many significant Christians who advanced the gospel. Beautiful photos, portraits, maps and timelines are helpful aids in “seeing” church growth through the ages. It’s my hope that many students will have the opportunity to read this book and grow in their faith and knowledge to the glory of Jesus Christ.

[Charlene Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book is supposedly for history, but misses huge Christian events like the Spanish Inquisition, and the Salem witch trials.
Words are used improperly (emigrate vs immigrate), and it skims over important topics to the point that if you don't already know the history, you can't follow the logic.
It really needed a chapter on all the various major denominations and what they believed. While many were briefly mentioned, a contrasting chapter would be so useful.
It also skimmed over the Holocaust, the creation of Israel, and the rise of mega churches and mega personalities.
It calls out very few modern theologians, and doesn't call out cults like Christian Science or Scientology.
But the unforgivable "sin" of this book is this: it highlights words and names, yet does not provide the most basic tool necessary for an academic resource. There is no glossary, nor is there an index. It mentions how things will be covered in a future chapter, but without an index you can't skip forward if interested. Then it mentions covering things in prior chapters, which are all but impossible to return to add there isn't even a chapter name which would at least get you to within 10 pages of a topic.
I was very underwhelmed and will NOT be using this as a curriculum. I read it cover to cover before assigning anything to my son, and I'm glad I did as it is not comprehensive nor conducive to teaching the church history without unchecked across to the Internet in lieu of an index.